Overview

MUDs and MOOs are an old form of online community that could be called a text-based form of a massively multiplayer online community, or MMO community. A MUD, or multi-user domain/dungeon, is a text-based server where anyone can login and control an online personality. A MOO stands for MUD, object oriented, which is another variety of MUD. Often times players will construct a character that they can use and return to later, but most of these MUDs have an option that allows people to connect as a guest personality as well. MUDs are often set in a fantasy- or sci-fi-style universe, either preexisting or designed specifically for the MUD, but there are MUDs, like LambdaMOO, that start out in a more realistic setting. In LambdaMOO, when a player logs in, they are in the closet of a mansion. They then can navigate out of the closet and explore the other elements of the LambdaMOO world (check the link to the LambdaMOO homepage in the "Links" section below for more info).

My Time with MUDs/MOOs

So I have mostly been exploring LambdaMOO. Here are a few screenshots of LambdaMOO using a couple different MUD clients.

LambdaMOO using the MudMagic client 1
LambdaMOO using the MudMagic client 2
LambdaMOO using SimpleMU client 1
LambdaMOO using SimpleMU client 2

The MudMagic client also has a list of popular MUDs available. Here is a screenshot of the beginning of the list to give you an idea of what kind of MUDs are available. I feel that LambdaMOO is something of a black sheep in the MUD world as most MUDs that I have encountered start you in something of a fantasy universe. That is not to say that LambdaMOO is not somewhat based on fantasy, but I feel LambdaMOO is more of a Second Life whereas most other MUDs are more of a World of Warcraft.

List of MUDs on MudMagic

Getting My Permanent Character

I applied for a character. It was interesting actually that I had originally attempted to apply with a Gmail account as my e-mail address and they said they didn't accept character applications with e-mails from free e-mail services. I used my WiscMail account instead and that was suitable. I assume this is to ensure people don't sign up for multiple characters. I received an e-mail later containing the following:

Automatic character creation for LambdaMOO:
A character has been created, with name "Eose" and password "*****".
Passwords are case sensitive, which means you have to type it exactly as
it appears here, including capital and lowercase letters.
So, to log in, you would type:
Connect Eose *****

LambdaMOO is at lambda.moo.mud.org, port 8888.

GETTING STARTED

A tutorial is available through the `@tutorial' command. LambdaMOO
has an extensive help system. Type `help' or `help ' to access
it. Try paging the character HELP if you can't find what you need in
the help system or tutorial. The wizards are overworked, so try to
avoid asking them directly if someone else might be able to assist.

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

A programmer's manual and various other pieces of documentation are
available via ftp from

ftp.lambda.moo.mud.org, directory /pub/MOO

PASSWORDS

Keep your password secure; do not let anyone else connect as you.
Remember, you are responsible for what your character does. If you no
longer want your character, do not give it to anyone else. You can
change your password after you connect with the @password command.

NAMES

If the name you were assigned is not the one you wanted, or you have
changed your mind about the name you want, use the command
@rename me to newname
to change it. See help @rename for details.

ONE CHARACTER PER PERSON

Please note that generally only one character is allowed per person.
If, by some mistake, you've requested a character when you already had
one, please inform a wizard. (See `help multiple-characters' for
details of the full policy.)

LAG

Lag, the delay between typing a command and receiving its results, is
an unfortunate feature of LambdaMOO. New users start off using the
"Lag Reduction Feature Object of Godlike Powers" (#26787), which
attempts to minimize their resource use by giving them very simple
versions of the most often used pieces of code. These simple
versions, however, remove the ability to perform sophisticated
operations on the output that is sent to you. For example, much
formatting is lost. One place this may bite you is if need to set
your line lengths and pagelengths explicitly (you may be using raw
telnet). To recover the ability to format your output (and any other
filtering you may wish to do), you will want to turn the lag reduction
feature off. To do this, simply type the command @addlag. For more
information on this feature object, type 'help #26787'. One last
comment about lag. You should think about lag in the context of the
"Tragedy of the Commons", where everyone decides that their sheep
should graze in the town square's park, quickly rendering it useless.

MANNERS

Please read `help manners' to see the code of conduct expected.

Useful Images

The LambdaMOO Map on the official webpage (I needed to have this open at all times to navigate easily)
An image of news that comes up if you login and type "news"
Glitches like this popped up all over the place

More Screenshots

Communication commands, chatting with an in-game bot
My time in the LambdaMOO supermarket
More time in the supermarket
Logging in as a guest before I got my account
Chattin' it up
Chattin' it up 2
Chattin' it up 3
Using the elevator

Links

LambdaMOO homepage
MudMagic client homepage
SimpleMU client homepage

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